Body Construction
The bubblecut Barbie dolls are all-vinyl, tan toned with a hollow torso, 11.5" tall, with rooted hair, molded eyelids, pierced ears and side glancing eyes. They are jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips. In 1961, the dolls were available with blonde, black or red hair, with red lips and nails. Subsequently, they had a greater range of hair colors, including platinum and brownette. Lip and nail colors became more varied as well. All straight leg bubblecut dolls had the same Mattel stock number, 850 (same number as the dolls with ponytails).

In 1965, a few rare bubblecut dolls were sold on the new bendable leg bodies, with stock number 1070.

Clothing
The early bubblecut dolls wore black and white striped strapless swimsuits with black open-toe high heeled shoes and pearl stud earrings. Starting in 1962, the swimsuit was changed to a regular plain red. The bend leg dolls have a swimsuit with a blue bottom and a multicolor, vertically striped attached top. Barbie had many, many outfits that could be purchased separately.

Packaging
Some early bubblecut Barbies were sold in the box picturing only ponytail dolls. The vast majority of bubblecut dolls were sold in boxes that featured illustrations of dolls with both ponytail and bubblecut hairstyles, wearing a variety of outfits. The rare bendable leg dolls were sold a box featuring a photo of the bend leg "American girl" Barbie.